Professor to join royalty for centenary event

Professor Gary Sheffield will attend the opening of a major new photographic exhibition, Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace 1914, in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent on Monday (August 4).

He will then attend a commemorative service near his home in Oxfordshire.

Professor Sheffield, who is internationally-renowned for his academic work in relation to the First World War, said: “I am very honoured to be invited to such a prestigious event, one of many important activities organised for the First World War centenary.

"It is vital that we mark British entry into the war appropriately. The First World War is often dismissed as futile. It was anything but that: Britain and her allies faced a threat of the utmost gravity.

"We need to remember the achievements as well as the sacrifice of the generation of 1914-18 generation."

Professor Sheffield joined the University last year to head the programme in First World War history.

He has been advising both the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the centenary of the First World War.

He also recently attended a reception hosted by the Prime Minister at No.10 Downing Street.